Ultrashort optical pulses (i.e., optical pulses less than about 100 picoseconds) are useful in various areas of research and development as well as commercial applications. For example, ultrashort optical pulses may be useful for time-domain spectroscopy, optical ranging, time-domain imaging (TDI), optical coherence tomography (OCT), fluorescent lifetime imaging (FLI), and lifetime-resolved fluorescent detection for genetic sequencing. Ultrashort pulses may also be useful for commercial applications including optical communication systems, medical applications, and testing of optoelectronic devices.
Conventional mode-locked lasers have been developed to produce ultrashort optical pulses, and a variety of such lasers are currently available commercially. For example, some solid-state lasers and fiber lasers have been developed to deliver pulses with durations well below 200 femtoseconds. However, for some applications, these pulse durations may be shorter than is needed and the cost of these lasing systems may be prohibitively high for certain applications. Additionally, these lasing systems may be stand-alone systems that have a sizeable footprint (e.g., on the order of 1 ft2 or larger), have appreciable weight, and occupy a sizeable volume (e.g., 0.5 ft3 or larger). Such lasing systems are not readily portable or incorporated into other portable systems as a module.